Sam Starks, Esq., Executive Director
Starks is an experienced litigation attorney with over 30 years of civil and criminal trial and appellate court experience in local, state and federal courts in the District of Columbia, Georgia and Ohio. Sam is the founder of The Starks Law Firm. He is also a former Senior Attorney with the Cochran Firm Atlanta, a former partner with the law firm of Martin & Jones, and former associate at Garland, Samuel & Loeb. Sam graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1992, where he was a Note Editor on the Duke Law Journal. After graduating from law school, Sam Clerked for Judge Damon J. Keith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Sam began his legal career as a practicing attorney as a staff attorney at The Washington Post. While in Washington D.C., Sam also worked several years as a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and relocated to Atlanta in 1999.
Contact: samlstarks@gmail.com, (404) 618-5112
Professor Jonathan Rapping, Faculty Director
Rapping, a nationally-renowned criminal justice reformer, is the Director of the Criminal Justice Certificate Program, a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, and the founder of Gideon’s Promise. He is the author of Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice. Among numerous recognitions, Rapping received the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant for his cutting-edge approach to justice transformation. He was awarded the Alumni Professional Achievement Award from his alma mater, The University of Chicago and was elected for membership to the American Law Institute. He is a frequent contributor to the national conversation on criminal justice reform and has been featured by numerous media outlets. Rapping has also been a speaker at TEDx Atlanta. Rapping’s work was the inspiration for the award-winning HBO documentary “Gideon’s Army.”
Contact: jrapping@johnmarshall.edu
Torris Butterfield, Esq., Managing Director
Butterfield is a seasoned and experienced trial attorney with extensive experience in criminal law. From 1997-2004, Torris worked as trial attorney with the Office of the Public Defender, Atlanta Judicial Circuit, rising to the rank of Senior Trial Attorney responsible as lead counsel for major felonies complex cases involving multiple defendants. In 2004, he formed The Law Office of Torris J. Butterfield and Associates, where he maintains an active felony and misdemeanor criminal defense practice in state and federal courts throughout the state of Georgia.
His practice also includes representing individuals in personal injury and family law matters. Since 1997, he has represented clients in a wide variety of criminal cases, including cases involving murder, rape, armed robbery, drug possession and distribution, child molestation and child pornography. Torris is a 1997 graduate of Mercer University School of Law.
Emily C.R. Early, Esq., Visiting Law Partner
Emily C. R. Early serves as the Associate Director of the Southern Regional Office of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Her primary responsibilities include leading the expansion of the Southern Regional Office’s engagement in movement litigation and advocacy and development of its local capacity to challenge systemic imbalances of power, in partnership with allies and partners throughout the South.
Prior to joining the Center for Constitutional Rights, Emily served as a senior supervising attorney with the Economic Justice Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she practiced for nearly six years with the Economic Justice Project, providing legal advocacy and education to dismantle exploitative systems that deprive people of wealth on account of their race and economic status. as well as to support equitable systems of self-determination and economic reinvestment.
Akil Secret, Esq., Senior Law Partner
Secret is a seasoned trial attorney, having tried hundreds of civil and criminal jury cases in state and federal courts throughout the Southeast. Graduating from Atlanta Law School in 1979, he was a founding partner in the Law firm of Axam, Adams, & Secret, and later formed The Secret Firm.
Licensed in Georgia and Nebraska, Secret’s commitment to justice began as an organizer in the civil rights movement while he attended Morehouse College.
There, he worked organizing black workers with the Black Worker’s Congress and The Harriet Tubman Prison Movement.
Today, Secret’s practice includes Civil Rights, Personal Injury and Criminal Law, where he fights racism in the courts and uplifts the community from crime, poverty and oppression, one client at a time. He has represented clients in complex criminal cases, including RICO Conspiracy, Capital Felonies, and death penalty cases.
Erin Coleman, Esq., Staff Attorney, Student Outreach
Coleman is a 2016 graduate of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and the Managing Attorney of Coleman Law and Associates LLC. Specializing in both personal injury and criminal defense, Erin assists clients injured through the negligence of others, handling cases ranging from premises liability to auto/trucking accidents and wrongful death, as well as representing clients in criminal defense cases such as drug possession, identity fraud, DUI, and theft. At Coleman Law and Associates LLC, Erin takes a client-centered approach, ensuring that each client feels seen, heard, and protected. Erin is proud to advocate strongly for her clients, making a meaningful difference during their most challenging times. As a long-time Metro Atlanta resident, mother, sister, niece, and friend, she is eager to give back to her community through her legal practice.